Material mixing machine



y 1940- A. L. MILLER 2.200.757

MATERIAL MIXING MACHINE Filed July 5, 1939 3 Sheets-Sheet l I flLJVz'lZer" y 1940- A. L. MILLER I v 2.200.757

MATERIAL MIXING MACHINE Filed July 5, 1939 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 F y ---x"--\ 7 3 2' M I i 7 E 4 I 1 z '!i m Z7 I I I I gl'f' Z 32 i i 5 7/ 7 gwuwwboo flL/Vi Zler y 1940. I A. LIMILLER 2.200.757

MATERIAL MIXING MACHINE Filed July 5, 1939 I 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Elwucnfot /7.L./7iZZer album mil Patented May 14, 1940 UNITED STATES I attain PATENT oFFIc 2,200,757 MATERIAL MIXING MACHINE Amos L. Miller, Foss, Okla. Application July 5, 1939, Serial No. 2 2,911 I Claims.

and act to destroy the taste and odor given to.

the water by alga. The usual practice is to throw the carbon into the water and allow it to spread as it will, but this practice is unsatisfactory because of the loss of carbon which occurs by it being picked up by air currents and because the carbon is not well distributed through the water, and also because oi. the fact that the attendants become dirtied by the carbon which blows about freely in the air. I

The primary object of the present invention I is to provide a novel machine for mixing the car- I bon or other powder which maybe fed to the water, with water prior to its introduction into the water of the filtering plant so that there will be a minimum of waste and the carbon or other chemical will be thoroughly distributed.

Another object of the invention is to provide in a material mixing machine of the character hereinafter described, a novel means for opening a bag of the powdered material after such bag has been placed within the machine, so that loss of the material will be prevented and the operator of the machine will be fully protected against inhalation of any of the powdered material or contact of the same with his body.

Still another object is to provide in 'a machine of the character hereinafter described, a novel agitating mechanism by means of which the powder material is kept moving in the machine and is prevented from packing orbridging nar- L0 row passageways or apertures through which it must pass. I

The invention will be best understood from a consideration of the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification, with the understanding, however, that the invention is not to be confined to any strict conformity with the showing of the drawings but may be changed or modified so long as suchchanges or modifications mark no material departure from the salient features of the invention as expressed in the appended claims.

In the drawings:

5 I Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view through a machine constructed in accordance with the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken substantially on the line 22 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a detailed sectional .view on an en- ;.-5

larged scale of a bag supporting block showing the means employed for shifting the same.

Fig. 4 is a view illustrating a throwout means for gears coupling two movable parts of the machine together.

Fig. 5 is a view in side elevation of an eccentric unit forming a part of an agitator machine.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view on the line 6-45 of Fig. 5.

Referring now more particularly to the draw- 5 ings, the numeral I generally designates a hopper structure forming a part of the upper half of the present material mixing machine. This hopper is of greater width than depth or thickness so that the upper end or mouth thereof is in the .20 form of an elongated rectangle. The discharge end or outlet of the hopper is,-h0wever, of circular form, this. outlet being indicated by the numeral 2 and as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, it is encircled by an outwardly projecting flange 3. 25

Upon the top of the hopper l and preferably formed integrally therewith is an elongated receptacle or box which is generally designated by the numeral 4, this box having the end walls 5 andfi and the side walls 1. To one of the sidewalls 30 is connected or attached by means of hinges or suitable connections 8, a cover or lid 9. This lid or the top edge of the box is provided with a I suitable felt basket ID whereby when the lid is closed, the escape of powder from the receptacle is prevented.

. Within the lower part of the receptacle 4 there are disposed longitudinally of each side wall I, the tracks II and supported on these tracks and extending across or bridging the lower part of $0 the receptacle is a carriage in the form of a bar l2 having at each end a roller l3 which runs on a track II. On the longitudinal center of the receptacle 4, in the lower part thereof, there is disposed afixed bar l4, one end of which is secured, as at l5,.to an endwall 5. The other end of this bar extends into the central portion of a tubular guide l6 which is secured in and extends through the opposite end wall 5, as shown in Fig. 1.

Resting upon and secured to the central part of the carriage bar I2 is one end of a shiftable unit whichis made up of the inner and outer telescopically connected tubes l1 and la, respectively. The inner tubeextends at both ends beyond the ends of the outer tube l8 and at the end of the inner tube nearest the fixed end of the guide Id, which guide extends through the major portion of the inner tube ll, there is secured to the inner tube a double bladed knife which is indicated generallyby the numeral l9 and which, as shown in Fig. 2, has the two blades 25 arranged in a common plane extending transversely of the receptacle l with their longitudinally arcuate cutting edges directed upwardly in the receptacle. 1

Adjacent the knife Hi, the outer tube is carries 7 the vertical slitting knife 2! which has its cutting edge extended in a longitudinal direction in the receptacle as shown in Fig. 1. At the opposite end of the receptacle t from the knives i 9 and 2 l, the tubes l! and it pass through the guide it and carry handles 22 and 23, respectively. These 7 handles facilitate longitudinal movement of the. tube and the knives and the rotation of the inner tube ll together with the double bladed knife it which it carries. Y

Disposed at the inner side of each side wall I is a vertically arranged wedgedike plate or block 24%, the inclined face of which is directed toward the center of the receptacle, the vertical back face being disposed in close proximity to the adjacent wall 1 and having a pair of T-slots 2 5 formed vertically therein, in each of which T-slots is engaged a head 26 of a screw 2] which is threaded through a suitable bearing 28 in the wall 7, the outer end of the screw terminating in a crank handle 29.

The inclined inner faces of the wedge blocks 24 converge downwardly in the receptacle and each carries a plurality of upwardly directed pins or prongs 35 for the purpose hereinafter stated.

The hopper structure I is supported vertically in any suitable manner so that the outlet end or discharge opening 2 will be raised a suitable distance above the ground, such supporting structure here being shown as in the form of legs 3! which are suitably coupled together by horizontal bars or beams 32 and connected at their upper ends with the hopper as indicated at33, so as to form a rigid supportingframe. I

In the lower part of the hopper there are formed the oppositely disposed bearings 34 through which extends a shaft 35. This shaft passes through the hopper along the length of the same or in other words, parallel with the knife carrying tubes lying above it in the receptacle l.

Within the hopper the shaft 35 has secured thereto sleeves or hubs 36 which carry radial agitator fingers 31. At the central part of the shaft 35 it passes through and is keyed to an eccentric 38 around which is secured-the eccentric ring 39, there being suitable anti-friction units such as the balls All interposed between the eccentric body and ring or yoke.

. Extending longitudinally of the upper part of the hopper is a fixed bar All which is provided with a central opening which receives the upper end of a vertically reciprocable stem 4'2, the lower end of which stem is integral with the annulus 23 which encircles the ring 39 and is maintained thereon by the opposed plates at which are coupled together by bolts t5. This stem 42 constitutes the main connection between the eccentric and an agitator unit lying in the hopper above the rotating fingers 31. This agitating unit, in addition to the'stem d2, includes a horizontal bar 46 which is connected with thestem 42 and is disposed beneath the bar M andhas its ends joined with the upwardly extending guide fingers Al which pass through guide apertures in the fixed bar 4|. The lower ends of these fingers extend downwardly and inwardly as m dicated at it, and are connected by a cross member 49. Between the extended portions :8 are disposed horizontal arms 50 which are carried by the stem 62 and these arms together with the side downwardly converging arms 58 are encircled by spiral members 5|. The entire agitator unit is thus moved vertically and'laterally by the eccentric to which it is attached through the medium of the annulus 43. The annulus 53 also has attached thereto beneath the stem 32, a depending stem 52 which is coupled at its lower end with a plate 53 which is provided with downwardly extending fingers 54 which have laterally extending terminal portions as shown in Fig. 2.

The shaft 35 is constantly driven during the operation of the machine through the connection therewith of a drive chain 55 which forms a connection between this shaft and a shaft 63' which forms apart of gearing mechanism hereinafter described.

Directly beneath the mouth 2 of the hopper is a rotary feeder housing 55 in which is supported upon a shaft 56, the rotary feeder which is indicated generally by the numeral 57 and which consists of a drum 58 having the radial longitudinally extending blades 59. V the drum 58 between the blades 59 is convex as indicated at 59. By this construction the oaking or packing of powdered material betwen the blades is prevented as the lateral ends of the fingers 54 will dig down through the material between the blades and thus serve in. a manner to shovel out the material, it being understood, of course, that this action of the fingers is produced through the operation of the eccentric id to lower the fingers intermittently between the drum blades.

At one side of the housing 5,5 a bearing sleeve be is disposed through which the shaft 56 passes, this shaft carrying on its outer end a gear 57 and a rock bracket 58. The bracket 58 supports a stub shaft 59 on which are supported the coaxial gears 50 and 6!, the gear iiiimeshing with the gear 5? while the gear 6! meshes with a gear 62 which is secured to the shaft 35.

The shaft 63 is connected by a sprocket drive chain D with a suitable source of power which is, preferably, a gear. reduction motor which revolves to produce a reduction in rotary power of approximately. to 1, 50 that a relatively .slow

turning of the shaft 63 will be obtained. It will thus be seen that the shaft 63 and the shaft 35 are constantly rotated while the machine is in operation but the shaft 56 is only intermittently rotated so as to transmit intermittent rotary motion to the feeder drum Bil-as hereinafter described. I

Upon the shaft 63 is a longitudinally slotted crank arm 63 and adjustably fixed in the slot of this arm is a pin 64' which is carried at one end of a coupling rod 64. This rod i5 1 has its other end slidably'extended through a guide sleeve 65 which is supported upon or by the bracket 58, being, coupled therewith by the stub shaft 59. At one end of the guide sleeve 65 is an enlarged head 65 between which and a collar member 55 secured to the rod 64, is compressed a spring 6?. At the opposite end of the rod 64 from the spring 61 are adjustment nuts 65" bywhich the movement of the rod through the guide sleeve may be controlled or regulated.

The surface of With the constructionadescribed, it will be readily apparent that inthe operation of the agitators and the feed drum, the shaft 35 will be constantly rotated so as to constantly turn the rotary agitator constituted by the fingers 31 mounted upon this shaft and to also constantly vertically reciprocate the agitators which are cou pled with the eccentric M. i'he rotation of the feeder drum 58 will, however, be intermittent by reason of the fact that the constantlyturning crank will eifect the intermittent coupling of the gears 51!, 6! between the gears 51-62. The spring i operates as a shock absorber as the gears are thrown into mesh. 7 In the upper part of the housing 55a deflector plate 68 is disposed over a portion of the rotary feeder to discharge material thereonto toward the center thereof and, as previously stated, this material while being fed through thehousing is prevented from packing between the blades 59 by the intermittent movement between the blades of the laterally extended portions of the fingers 54.

The lower part of the housing 55 has an arouate partition 69 which is provided with an outlet slot l0 and this is directed downwardly into a funnel H which is enclosed within a box or housing 12 into which water is discharged byway of the pipes 73. These pipes enter the water box or housing '12 adjacent the bottom of the same and at the central part of this box the bottom is provided with an outlet nipple M which is connected with a downwardly extending pipe 15 in which are arranged the oppositely inclined over lapping baflle plates 16.

Fixed in the outlet nipple M and disposed within the box '32 in encircling relation with the lower end of the funnel H is a funnel-like bafile H, the top edge of which is free of contact with the walls of the water box 12 and is disposed asubstantial distance above the inlet pipes 13. thus making it necessary for water to be maintained within the box at a predetermined height in order to flow over the top edge of the battle TI and through the same into the pipe l5. The discharge end of the funnel H is disposed in the funnel-like baflie TI adjacent the lower end or outlet of the latter.

The top wall of the water housing or box is provided with ventilators 18 and one side wall has a sight window 19 and another side wall is provided with a door opening 80 which is closed by the hinged door 85. By means of this hinged door 8! a receptacle may be inserted through the water boxand intothe discharge funnel ll through a removable door 82 in the wall of this funnel, to remove a sample of the material passing through the funnel.

In the use of the present machine, a bag of the powdered material which is to pass through the machine such as carbon or the like, is disposed in the receptacle 4 to extend longitudinally thereof, as indicated in Fig. 1 in dotted outline. The material of the bag will be caught upon the pins or prongs 30 so that the bag will be suspended over the knives l9 and 2!. After the top or cover 9 of the bag receptacle has been-closed, the bag is opened by drawing the knife 2i longitudinally through the receptacle 4 so that the bag will be slit from end to end. Lateral cuts may then be made by rocking the knife structure It on the supporting rod M. A number of such lateral cuts can be made by shifting the knife back a short distance following each rocking motion so that by the time the two knives have been returned to the position in which they are shown in Fig. 1, a number of cross cuts orslits maybe made in the material of the bag by the blades 20 of the oscillatable knife. As the powdered material is discharged downwardly from the receptacle 4, the shafts 35 and 56 will be rotated so that the reciprocable agitator arms in the upper part of the hopper I will be moved vertically andlaterally while the fingers 3! and the feeder 57 are rotated. At the same time, the fingers 54 will be raised and lowered with respect to the blades of the rotary agitator 51, these fingers dipping between the blades as de scribed. By means. of this feeder mechanism the carbon or other powdered material will be fed downwardly into the funnel II and all possibility of the material connecting or bridging the mouth of the hopper will be prevented. As the material leaves the lower end of the funnel ll, it will combine with the water flowing over the inner side of the bafile funnel H, at the mouth of the latter and as it passes into and through the pipe 15, the water and the powdered material will be thoroughly mixed together. By the provision of the adjustable blocks 24 in the receptacle 4, bags of different size may be readily accommodated as it will be readily apparent that if smaller bags are to be supported in the receptacle, the blocks 25 may be moved together by turning the cranks 29. By means of the present machine material such as carbon in powdered form, lime or other similar substances may be readily combined with water or mixed together as may be desired without waste and in a clean manner so that the health of theattendant of the machine will not be in danger. It will also be readily apparent that because of the novel construction of themachine, the carbon or other material will be fed smoothlyor evenly through the water mixing chamber where. the smooth combining of the powder with the water will be accomplished.

The present machine is designed primarily for the mixing of carbon with water for use in water treating plants and with this machine the desired mixing of the carbon may be accomplished cleanly and without waste.

What is claimed is:

1. In a machine of the character described, a hopper having a bottom outlet, a shaft extending transversely through the lower part of the hopper above the outlet, means for rotating said shaft, a vertically reciprocable agitator structure within the hopper, eccentric means within the hopper connecting said shaft with said agitator, said agitator being designed to prevent the clogging of powdered material in the hopper, a 1'0- tary housed feeder connected with said. hopper and covering the outlet to receive material therefrom, and an outlet connected with the housing of the rotary feeder.

2. In a machine of the character described for mixing materials, a housing structure having a bottom outlet and adapted to receive the material, a hopper having top and bottom openings and connected with said housing to receive material from the housing outlet into the top opening, means connected withthe bottom opening of the hopper for receiving powdered material and mixing another material therewith, a rotary feeder within said hopper, a shaft extending through the lower part of the hopper, means couthe shaft and including a non-rotating ring and a vertically reciprocating agitator in the upper part of the hopper including a fixed horizontal guide, a series of vertically extending members connecting the said guide for vertical movement relative thereto, one of said members being connected with said eccentric ring to receive vertical and lateral movement therefrom, and a plurality of arms carried by said members between said guide and the shaft.

3. In a mechanism for preventing clogging of powdered material in and maintaining movement of the same through a hopper having a bottom discharge outlet, a rotatable shaft extending transversely through the hopper adjacent said outlet, an eccentric body secured to said shaft, an eccentric ring encircling said body, a vertically disposed stem secured at one end to said ring and extending upwardly in the hopper, guide means in the upper part of the hopper for the upper end of said stem, a plurality of horizontal arms carried by said stem in vertically spaced re lation, a plurality of agitator fingers carried by and extending radially from said shaft at opposite sides of said eccentric, a rotary feeder disposed beneath the discharge outlet of the hopper, said rotary feeder comprising a drum having a plurality of radial blades, means for effecting the simultaneous rotation of said shaft and in the hopper, an agitator unit disposed within the hopper above the shaft and supported for vertical movement, means coupling the agitator unit with the eccentric unit whereby vertical movement may be imparted to the agitator unit, a plurality of agitator fingers carried by and extending radially from the shaft at opposite sides of the eccentric unit, a housing disposed beneath and connected with the hopper outlet, said housing having a lower outlet, and a rotary feeder disposed within said housing directly beneath and in relatively close proximity to said agitator fingers.

5. In a machine of the character stated, a hopper having a bottom outlet, a shaft extending transversely through the lower part of the hopper above the outlet, means for rotating said shaft, an eccentric unit coupled with said shaft within the hopper, an agitator unit disposed within "the hopper above the shaft and supported for vertical movement, means coupling the agitator unit with the eccentric unit whereby vertical movement may be imparted to the agitator unit, a plurality of agitator fingers carried by and extending radially from the shaft at opposite sides of the eccentric unit, a housing disposed beneath and connected with the hopper outlet, said housing having a lower outlet, a rotary feeder disposed within said housing directly beneath and in relatively close proximity to said agitator fingers, said rotary feeder comprising a drum having a plurality of radial blades, and a plurality of finger members extending downwardly and supported from said eccentric imit to receive up and down movement therefrom in timed relation with said blades to move between the blades as the feeder rotates. I

Y AMOS L. MILLER. 

